The S&S thoughts: Sincere and Silly. From the beaches of the Hawaiian shores to the Inland Empire of the Southern California landscape, to the high arches of St. Louis to the cultural history of Memphis, to where I call home now, this is my story, thoughts and hopes.

WoW TONO Thoughts

DEFINED ME ...

Some might say that I am off-the-wall, but I am right-on-the-shelf in the library under unique, Made-in-Hawaii, TONO.--July 2004

GOD'S WISDOM ...

I define true wisdom when God is magnified and glorified through His character. I am privileged to play a role with believers and stories where God and His Son is exalted! For God, be the praise and honor!--August 15, 2009

This turns out to be the #1 personal story of 2009, the pictures and the experience. It was a little more than a full week of FUN with my Sunshine. It might have been cloudy on certain days. But she was there to shine the light on the journey.

We thought we'd share the beauty of the Smoky Mountains. It was our third trip there. We circled the Mountains, and drove through part of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I will work on the story ... the TONO thoughts later in the week ... in between work!

March 2008

March 31, 2008

I
haven't commented on anything because I've been at work for the weekend, the
most busiest day of my restaurant's workweek. It's just the nature of the
business in which I work in on a day-to-day basis. Don't worry. I've been
thinking about what I should comment on next.

This morning, I had all these great, grand magnificent stuff to get
accomplished by the end of the day. I wanted to plan my week for work. I still
have a lot of skills to learn. And still more people to get to know. I wanted
to write and respond to a few messages on this blog. And I wanted to get much
needed rest. If I was lucky, I would call a friend to see, what's going on.

Somehow, this day just flew by. It always does when I'm off from work. The
errand that I had enough time to take care of was mailing off a claim for
payment for medical visits in 2007 from my Flexible Spending Account (FSA). If
I didn't get that postmarked today, the funds put aside would just vanish into
thin air. Where does that unclaimed funds go anyway? Does anyone know? This
inquiring mind wants to know!

Three months from now, my wife and I will be in Hawaii. It's a time of rest,
and for Aurora to meet my family. I am looking forward to the visit. Also,
because it will be her first visit to Hawaii. Just thinking about all the
interesting Hawaiian culture events that my sunshine will be exposed on the
island of Oahu. I was going through some old photos of my first visit to Hawaii
seven years after moving to Southern California. I thought that I would share
this picture.

Less
than a year later, my father would pass away. (Here's a picture of both of us.)

It's sad that he would not be
able to meet my wife. But there are always reasons for things like his passing
to happen. I don't think that I'll understand. Don't want to have a headache
answering the question why. I just have to trust that God always has a reason.
Who better to trust than the God's will and His kingdom?

Today, Aloha Airlines stopped flights for the Islands. I just pray that
Hawaiian Airlines doesn't because that is the airlines we purchased our plane
tickets. Pray with Aurora and I. ;-)

March 27, 2008

This
was the second day that I was off from work. (And for the World Wide Web,
you're not going to know where that is.) Today is the 5th month anniversary
being married. And ... yes ... it is my duty to remember this day, the 27th for
the rest of my adult life. If I don't, let me tell you, there are consequences
that are not pretty for me.

We finished filing our taxes this evening. Thank goodness Uncle Sam didn't take
more money out of our taxes. We are getting back a tax return. I mean did you
see that gas prices for a gallon of gas at $3.06! I know ... it's not that high
as in California or Hawaii. After doing our taxes, we headed for my favorite
place where we ate after my wife and I got married: P.F. Chang. I had my usual
Singapore Street Noodles. It was really good.

It was very special spending time with my wife for the last few days. Who would
have thought a while ago, I ended up getting married. Let's just say that it's
been an interesting five months. I will let you know more about my thoughts
about this in the days ahead. I thought that it would be special putting my
first post on this day. Maybe then it's another reason I won't forget this day!
LOL